Dundas Street, named for Henry Dundas, Secretary of State for the British Home Department (1791-1794), was built on Lieutenant Governor Simcoe's orders in 1793-1794. The road, cut by a party of Queen's Rangers from Burlington Bay to the upper forks, a navigable point on the Thames River, was part of a land and water communications system linking Detroit and Montreal. The road also connected the site of Simcoe's proposed capital, London, 26 km downstream, with the larger network. While Simcoe's primary consideration was military, Dundas Street also helped to open the region for settlement.